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BENT COLUMN: The Fast and the Furious: California Sidewalk By: Jason Bent, MMATorch Contributor
Jul 17, 2008 - 8:26:28 AM
By now you have heard all about Quinton Jackson’s foray into street racing on Tuesday and I don’t think this is how Dana White envisioned the UFC getting front page news. Clearly this is a shocking event and I think that it is nothing short of remarkable that no one got seriously hurt during this ordeal. This is quite the black eye for MMA, UFC and everyone involved as this does
reflect poorly on the fighters as far as the mainstream sports fans go. The NBA and NFL have had their problems with unruly
athletes and lawbreakers and have been chided for being paid penal leagues and now it has happened to one of the brightest stars of MMA and specifically the UFC.
Quinton Jackson was driving his version of Bigfoot on the 55 Freeway while talking on his phone and then all hell let loose. I just have to wonder what those motorists imagined when a monster truck emblazoned with the image of Jackson began to bear down on them. Fighters speak of how intimidating “Rampage” is inside of the cage; apparently “Rampage” behind the wheel is something you don’t want to face either.
Celebrities have done some crazy things, and while Quinton isn’t necessarily on the level of say David Beckham, he is a MMA superstar and was certainly poised to step into the mainstream in a very big way. This surely wasn’t the way that anyone imagined that Quinton would become a household name; I mean even Andy Dick would say that this kind of behavior is out of line.
That’s right. Andy Dick would shake his head at Jackson for being insane and he would do so while sitting in jail for some acts of perversion at a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant. Apparently, Mr. Dick while inebriated attempted to give patrons lap dances and also groped a 17 year old girl. Quinton Jackson has now joined this club in which Andy Dick is a charter member.
Robert Downey, Jr., at the height of his drug induced insanity would have expressed shock over Jackson’s audition for ‘Cannonball Run 3’ on Tuesday. Downey, Jr. was of course famously arrested over Thanksgiving of 2000 while in a hotel room in which he had cocaine, methamphetamines and a Wonder Woman costume. As of this moment we have no clue as to whether or not Jackson was in fact under the influence of anything at all, but you have to presume he was incapacitated in some way either mentally or chemically and even Downey would ask what Quinton was on and been in disbelief.
What I am saying is that you come to expect outrageous acts from celebrities and athletes and for the most part it often comes as no surprise when it comes to people such as Andy Dick, Adam “Pac Man” Jones and the entire roster of the Cincinnati Bengals. If I were to tell you that Mike Tyson was arrested today, you would probably not even budge from your seat and the news would seem as normal as a birthday announcement on NBC’s “Today” show. It would be a matter of wondering what he did, but you would imagine since it is Mike Tyson, that it must be something in line with every other story you have heard about him.
Quinton Jackson is not that type of guy from what we think we know and from what we have seen. This guy has a sparkling personality and was a guy who joked around more often than he postured. This past season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ was lacking in tension between the coaches and this was really due to the fact that both Jackson and Griffin are congenial personalities. This was not Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock and thankfully so as these two may not have shown much fight on the show but they more than brought it at UFC 86. What I mean specifically is that everyone views Quinton as a “good guy” and nothing is said about him as either a fighter or a man that is derisive. This has all changed in a matter of weeks as he has gone from a shining beacon of light for the UFC to becoming just another one of the unruly professional athletes we have in our country.
The UFC will be hurt tremendously by this as they are firmly on the mainstream map after years of being spoken of as a barbaric sport filled with ruffians and now will be considered as just that once again by more than a few outside observers. Most people who do not watch the UFC or MMA for that matter are quick to tell you how brutal it is and even the Republican Presidential candidate John McCain famously fought against it and deemed it to be, “human cockfighting,” and something that should be banned. In the years since its inception, the UFC has come a long way to say the least. Rules and weight classes were implemented and the fighters went from bar brawlers to trained athletes who conducted themselves as such and helped the UFC to move towards its current position in sports and pop culture.
Dana White is quick to point out that no one has ever died in a UFC octagon when he is told by someone that they view the UFC to be so much worse than boxing in particular. So far he has proven that MMA is in fact not a battle to the death and he has made sure that his fighters have walked the line and not done anything to harm the image he has so carefully cultivated. The image is firmly tarnished now and this takes away from the tremendous fight that Jackson put up against Griffin and ruins all of the good vibes that emanated from the UFC 86 show in a matter of minutes.
Those who know nothing of the sport will chide Quinton Jackson as just another thug athlete and come to the conclusion that UFC fighters are as incorrigible as the worst NFL offenders and NBA criminals. For once they are talking about the UFC on the news and it has to be because of Jackson’s rampage on the freeway. It is a shame.
Dana White will have some explaining to do in the near future; as how he handles this will be of utmost importance. He famously kicked Jesse Taylor out of his chance to win the TUF season championship due to his outside of the ring activity and to say Jackson should lose an opportunity is not something that is out of line. Jesse Taylor committed an act of vandalism and acted like a douchebag in a casino, Quinton Jackson did something far worse. Jesse Taylor was chided for presenting himself as a UFC fighter in such a way; now Quinton Jackson has represented the UFC even worse than anyone before him has done so. Jesse Taylor asked if those at the casino knew who he was, while Quinton Jackson mowed people over in a truck with his face plastered on the side of it. If Dana White thinks that Jesse Taylor is not the kind of fighter that the UFC wants representing them, what does he think of Jackson?
Jesse Taylor is getting a second chance and Jackson deserves much the same but I do not think that he should be getting his rematch with Griffin anytime in the near future. To post bond for Jackson is one thing but if in doing so Dana White was only protecting an asset it will turn out to have very bad effect on anything Dana says or does in the future. I mean, Dana White hates Tito Ortiz and calls him a “moron,” so what does he think Jackson is?
Dana White thinks Jackson is a bankable star and in effect a meal ticket and we all know it. Were this Chris Lytle or someone of lesser status they would be canned swiftly for such an act. If Dana White does indeed allow Jackson to continue his career in the UFC uninterrupted it really will say a lot about the UFC and will make them no better than any major sports team that continues to put criminals on the field simply because they can play well. Again, Jackson does deserve a second chance but he also needs to be made an example because if not then how will they justify punishing a fighter in the future over such an infraction as wearing the wrong t-shirt?
I wish Quinton Jackson well and I do have the utmost respect for him professionally, and from a viewer’s perspective I do wish to see him back in the octagon in the future. The guy is one of the best in the game and he does have a right to earn a living but to fight in the UFC is a distinct privilege. Dana White has always given these speeches on TUF about how he isn’t going to take any crap from the guys and how they need to act professionally and make the most of their opportunity and to not blow it by doing stupid things. Dana is famous for his, “Do you want to be a f**king fighter?” speeches and I have to say that I feel he should make sure to spew that out for Jackson sometime in the future.
Remember Kalib Starnes? How could you forget his “performance” against Nate Quarry at UFC 83? I loathed that fight or lack thereof and agreed with Dana that perhaps Starnes does not belong in the UFC, but Dana acted as if Starnes did something nothing short of committing a felony that night. Here we are a short while later and one of his superstars has done just that; committed a felony. I want to know if he is going to state that perhaps Jackson doesn’t appreciate the opportunity that the UFC presented to him and how he doesn’t want his company or the sport that he loves to be represented by those who are going to act in such a manner and give all parties involved a bad name.
I was shocked when the Atlanta Falcons washed their hands of Michael Vick but I will not be shocked when another team picks him up after he is released from prison. He is a gifted athlete and in a league that employed Lawrence Phillips, it is a given that someone will sign him up. I agree with the Falcons decision and it was a move that they simply had to make for both P.R. reasons as well as financial ones, but it seems that athletes can seemingly get away with anything that they do so long as they can be of use to a potential franchise.
Obviously Quinton Jackson is valuable to the UFC in the octagon and at 30 years of age it is a given that he has more than a couple of years left in the game. With the competition as far as Affliction and Mark Cuban’s MMA dreams; we are certain that if the UFC were to cut Jackson loose that someone else would pay him a hefty sum to join their roster. From a business perspective Jackson’s value to the UFC is one that cannot be accurately measured but how this is handled is going to be just as powerful as “Rampage” is in the octagon. UFC wants to enter the mainstream and get afforded the coverage that the other sports receive but this once I wish the UFC wasn’t just like every other sport. Here we have the tale of yet another athlete gone wrong and it is an absolute shame.
I hope to see Jackson right his wrong but what would be worse would be if Dana White and the UFC do not address this and make it known that they do not condone such behavior and will not reward those who exhibit said behavior. Posting Jackson’s bond was a step in the wrong direction as I do not feel that Dana would have done the same for Tito Ortiz had he done such a thing while under the UFC banner. Jackson deserves a second chance and Dana deserves the opportunity to address this properly, and until then all judgments will be reserved. Of course, anything Dana says in regards to this will be much bigger than his “big announcement” and will possibly impact the sport for the next five years and once again we will all be waiting on Dana to arrive with his word on the events that have transpired.
I just hope “Rampage” doesn’t drive him to the press conference.
